This is a known issue in the LIBSNDFILE library that is to do with the ambiguity of some WAV file formats. In particular floating point formats. Basically what happens is that HarBal reads in your 24 bit float format and reports a bit depth of 32 bits (which is not the real bit depth). When it creates a compatible file format it ends up creating a 32 bit PCM file. You can avoid this problem by either using a 24 bit PCM (integer) format or a Type 3 24 bit float format.

Within Har-Bal you can check your level by looking at the bottom right of your program. It is the second set of numbers from the right (Track power figure of merit). This is how you can check the loudness of your songs without losing your eardrums. Most commercial songs will be between -9.00 and -13db.

Click on Option/Driver and choose your sound card.

HarBal supports ASIO, DirectX and multimedia drivers.

Beginning January 2004, Har-Bal will allow you to insert your own plug-ins into the program making it one of the most accurate sound shaping tools on the market. There will be no price increase.

It is important to note that it is difficult to “efficiently” support the mode of operation required for HarBal as a plugin, simply because the plugin interface does not give enough control/access to the source material as Har-Bal would require. It is possible to do something similar but the means of operating the software would be decidedly clunkier than the stand alone version.

Har-Bal is completely configurable. Go to Graph/Options and change whichever line you don’t want to see to the background color. This will cause the line to disappear.

The answer in short is, yes you can Harbalize individual instruments but the references supplied with the product will be of no use for this purpose, basically because the spectrum with an individual instrument will generally be narrower and confined to a more limited range. That being said you can still use it to alter the sounds of individual instruments to taste.

Whether you will get substantially better results that way is debatable, basically because it is hard to know how it should be altered to give the desired end result when the instruments haven’t been combined yet. What I would argue though, is that it would definitely be beneficial to use the spectrum analysis results of a given mix down to verify that it is well put together and if not make adjustments to your mixer settings to get the right general form for the final mixdown.

Once you’ve tweaked it as best you can you can then use a Har-Bal filter to apply the final polish to the mix.

The introductory offer includes the same level of free upgrades as the full price. Our upgrade policy is to provide free upgrades of minor revisions and improvements and paid upgrades for major revisions & improvements. All bugs are fixed free.

Go to the toolbar on the menu and click on “graph/zoom all” or right click anywhere on the graph and click on “zoom all”. This will return your view as it looked initially.

HB3 has .hbref files instead which you create using the “File/Export as reference” menu command.

One big problem when mixing is:
Is there enough bass in the mix? Is it too toppy? Too squawky? Too woolly and muffled?

Well, You don’t know. Even if you had God’s own monitors, you wouldn’t know, because your hearing adapts to the signal, especially if you’re working on a piece for a longer stretch. Your brain EQs your perception to make the sound bearable

As for bass: Normal monitors won’t play back as low as you need them to. You need a tool that will tell you what’s going on in the bass that is out of your hearing range and your monitor’s playback range. Now the solution: Go to www.har-bal.com and download the demo. Har-Bal is a mastering EQ and analyzer package for Windows PCs. First you analyze your mix. The analysis will show how tops, midrange and bass are distributed in your mix.

Now you load a world-class reference mix of a similar musical style, let’s say R&B if you’re doing R&B and you compare the graphs of your mix with the graph of the world-class reference mix.
Then you adjust the graph of your mix to a shape quite similar (similar, not exactly the same) to the reference mix´s graph.

Bob’s your uncle! You are rewarded with a mix that is 100% compatible with the rest of your music style’s greatest successes.

Not too bassy, not too toppy. No need to test it on a million different systems! Finished! And you can be confident that your piece will be played and not taken off the air because it just doesn’t cut it sound -wise. I bought Har-Bal and I recommend this software. They don’t pay me to write rave reports about it. I tried it and I found it worked.

Try it yourself and you will find that it will save you a lot of time and money, You don’t need world-class monitors to make world class mixes. That doesn’t mean that I wouldn’t like some world class monitors for myself

It does mean that world class monitors don’t solve the basic problem of subjective hearing. Har-Bal does, and that will take a great weight off your shoulders, believe you me!

Regards,
Robert